


Some Things Change, Some Things Stay the Same

by sfmpco



Series: Sherlock and Molly One-Shots [1]
Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, Post Reichenbach Falls, The start of The Empty Hearse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-04
Updated: 2015-07-04
Packaged: 2018-04-07 15:01:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4267707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sfmpco/pseuds/sfmpco
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sherlock Holmes has returned to London after two years undercover dismantling Moriarty's network, and now he must let his closest friends know he's alive before the word gets out.  This is an expansion of letting Molly know he was alive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Some Things Change, Some Things Stay the Same

Molly had gasped in a moment of fright and shock.  Sherlock was the last person she had expected to see that day.  Actually, she wasn’t certain she would ever see him again.  It had been two years since his faked death, and in a way he may as well have been dead because she hadn’t known his whereabouts, and there had been absolutely no communication.  There had only been deafening silence.  She had got on with her life and was engaged now.  She had practically forgotten the sound of Sherlock’s voice even thought it had only been recently that she had deleted his old voice mails.  For all she knew he might never come back alive and even if he did survive what he had to do, maybe he wouldn’t come back to London.

Yet there he was, reflected in her locker mirror, standing only a few feet behind her.  She turned to him quickly, her heart still pounding from the shock, but then she couldn’t help but to smile a little, and much to her surprise, he actually smiled back to her.  Nicely smiled.

“You’re back!” she exclaimed.

“Stating the obvious, Molly Hooper.” He said, but there was a gentleness in his voice, not his usual snark that she had known so well.

She looked him over fully.  He had a cut on the right side of his lower lip.  It was fresh, very fresh.  She estimated it to be only a few hours old if that much. There was also some bruising around his nose and eyes.  He’d been in some sort of scrap.

“Looks like someone took the piss out of you.” she said.

He shrugged a little. “I had it coming. You know how I can be.”

She wondered if it had been John Watson.  She reasoned that Sherlock would have tried to see John as soon as possible upon his return.  Perhaps it hadn’t gone well, but then, how could it possibly go well when one has returned from the dead? “Do you want me to get you some ice? Coffee?  Anything?” She asked.  She put her hands behind her back and slipped her engagement ring off, then stuffed it into her pocket .  She didn’t know why she suddenly didn’t want him to see it, but she didn’t. 

“No.  No.  I can’t stay long. I just came by to—“ he stopped himself, unsure how to proceed.  This was the woman who had made his fake suicide all possible for him, and he owed her more than he could express. 

“To let me know you’re back.  Yes, thank you.” She finished for him.  She could sometimes finish his sentences, especially if he was a bit awkward.  For all his tough and stern exterior, Sherlock Holmes could at times be endearingly awkward.  It was if they were picking up again right where they had left off, and yet there was a two-year gap of silence that had happened during which many things had occurred, not the least of which was her engagement.  In those brief seconds she doubted  her commitment to her fiancé.  Here before her was the man she had silently cared for in unreciprocated love for several years.  No matter how hard she had tried to date other men, no one ever measured up to Sherlock.  No one ever could, but she had indeed chosen someone.  A nice, comfortable someone named Tom. She had settled for less than best, and she instantly knew it, and she wondered if she could live with that.  She and Tom had started to build a life together.  They even had a dog. 

“The labs are still open for you anytime, of course.” She said. “Let me know if I can be of any assistance.  Anything you need.”

There was a flash of confusion and perhaps hurt in his eyes.  He didn’t know why he was expecting more of a welcome from her, but he had been.  He’d carried a fantasy for months that she would practically throw herself into his arms when they met again, but as he was still a bit sore and bruised from the recent beating he’d taken in Serbia, he was relieved that she hadn’t chosen to do that. 

“Yes.  Thank you.”  he said simply.  “I’m certain I’ll be by as soon as I have time to get resettled properly.”

She could smell his cologne.  She had missed that smell.  Also the chemical smell of his coat obviously just back from the dry cleaners.

“Sherlock—“ she started, and he  suddenly held open one arm to her.  She wanted to tell him about Tom, but Tom would have to wait.  Sherlock Holmes was inviting her to him, something he had only done once before – the night he had faked his suicide.  She smiled and put one arm around him, and he put his arm around her shoulders.  Friends.  That’s all this was.  But his gloved hand gently squeezed her shoulders and effectively pulled her against him.  A little hug.  An almost brotherly hug.

“I’ve missed you too.” She said for both of them because she knew he wouldn’t say something so sentimental.

He looked down at her and winked a little.  He was a winker.  It was like a secret code.  It always made his eyes sparkle.  His hug was brief, however, and his hand moved away from her shoulder and rested on her back, barely touching her.  He smiled a little again, and again there was warmth in it.

She turned more into him and stood on her toes, craning to reach his cheek where she planted a quick kiss.  She wasn’t certain how she reached it.  She was so much shorter than he was, and she wondered if perhaps he had leaned down into it for just a moment.

“Welcome back, Sherlock Holmes.”

“Thank you, Molly Hooper.”

He patted her back and winked again and made his way out of the locker room.  As soon as he was out of her sight, he stopped and touched his cheek where she had kissed him and smiled to himself.  He brought the hand that touched his cheek to his lips as if to kiss her in return, and then he walked out of Barts and into the night.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little one-shot I had in mind. I just needed to get it written down. Back to writing to book.


End file.
